Major Energy Utility Company Engages DCG Software Value to
Measure the Impact of its Information Technology and Improve
Overall Business Operations
Measure. Optimize. Deliver.
The Information Technology team at a major energy utility company located in the mid-Atlantic region wanted
to ensure that it was providing optimum, noticeable value to its business units, as well as the overall company.
With the understanding that defining value requires measurements that can be tracked over time, the team
reached out to DCG Software Value (DCG), based on its reputation and expertise in software metrics.
Ultimately, DCG helped the team to focus the engagement on answering the question:
How can we measure our activities, from project delivery to operations support, and utilize
that measurement system over time for improved value and reporting?
Identifying and Tracking Key Metrics for Value Analysis
The goal of the engagement was three-fold, focusing on several business units within the company, including
billing, customer care, field support and payments:
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To identify key measures that demonstrate how IT performance impacts the company as a whole.
To implement a measurement process for IT delivery and operations.
To show traceability back to Key Process Indicators (KPIs).
In order to showcase the team’s value and pinpoint areas of improvement, DCG worked with the team to
develop a Measurement Framework Model. The model was used to identify what current or potential metrics
could be analyzed to evaluate the team’s impact on the KPIs within a particular business unit, from both project
delivery and product application maintenance perspectives.
Measurement
Framework Model
As shown in the model, the IT team’s Project Delivery and Operations Processes directly impact Business
Processes, which are measured by KPIs. Thus, IT performance improvements should have a direct, positive
impact on Business Processes.
The IT processes can be measured with a defined set of metrics, for both project delivery and production
support. For example, the Project Delivery metrics for the team included: Requirements Stability, Defect
Density, Performance Productivity, Defect Removal Efficiency and Customer Satisfaction. Then, they defined
each metric, the data required, the measure/calculation to be tracked and the mode of analysis, such as
monitoring trends. This process was repeated for a unique set of operations-specific metrics.
The value in developing a model such as this is the benefit of scalability. This model can be adjusted to meet
the specific and unique needs of the various business units within an organization. Similarly, it allows for the
development of a common set of metrics that can be used to identify levels of performance across the
organization.
Software Best Practices Lead to a Quantifiable, Positive Impact on the Company’s Bottom Line
By utilizing this model, DCG helped the company to analyze and identify the IT metrics that influence the KPIs
within the various business units. Ultimately, when implemented over time, the framework will result in
increased insight into how the team can improve, while raising sensitivity within IT as to what they should be
doing to provide increased overall value.
Additionally, the team will be able to quantify the impact that its best practices have within the department and
within the business, highlighting the value of the team. As the framework indicates, when IT is implementing
software best practices, it has a positive, quantifiable impact on the company, providing key data for IT to
share and utilize. Thus, the company’s IT team has a baseline for its performance that can be tracked over
time for continued IT improvement and increased business value.
DCG Software Value is a global provider of software analytics, software quality management and Agile support services. DCG maintains a
U.S. corporate office and a European corporate office.
softwarevalue.com
+1.610.644.2856
[email protected]
Measure. Optimize. Deliver.